Gang Related Shooting

A gang-related shooting in an alley left one man dead and another wounded, a Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said Wednesday. Jose Sanchez, 18, was in an alley behind City Terrace Drive talking to friends when a gray Buick sedan pulled up and issued the gang challenge, "Where are you from?" authorities said. After Sanchez and his friends replied "nowhere," the occupants of the Buick opened fired with a handgun, fatally wounding Sanchez in the upper body, Deputy Angie Prewett said.

A man was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day after he answered a knock at his door and an unknown suspect opened fire, police said Friday. Jose Banda, 21, was struck numerous times in the upper body in the 8:05 p.m. shooting in the 11600 block of Remington Street. Police suspect the attack was gang-related, said Det. Frank Bishop. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact the LAPD's Foothill Division.

A 16-year-old Santa Ana girl was in critical condition Friday after she was struck by a bullet in the back during a gang-related drive-by shooting, police said. The girl, whose name was being withheld, was standing with three friends outside 1709 W. Wisteria Place in Santa Ana about 9:25 p.m. Thursday when gang members drove by, yelled a gang slogan and fired eight shots, according to police spokesman Maureen Thomas.

Two people were killed and three others wounded in a gang-related attack Sunday in Lake View Terrace, police said. Details of the shooting were sketchy. Paramedics received an 11:37 a.m. call about the shooting in the 11400 block of Wheeler Place, near Garber Street, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Initial reports indicated that there were three victims. Two young men were transported to area hospitals and a girl was airlifted to a trauma center, Humphrey said.

Westchester High School earned a dubious distinction this week. It joined the list of schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District struck by gang violence this year. A 16-year-old student, whose name is being withheld by police, was wounded Monday in a gang-related drive-by shooting shortly after 10:30 a.m. as he waited for an RTD bus in front of the school. A bullet fired from a .22-caliber handgun grazed the youth's stomach and he was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he had surgery.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have made one arrest and are searching for two more people in connection with a shooting that left two dead in Palmdale late Friday night. The shooting, which deputies describe as "gang-related," occurred during an argument at a mini-mart on Palmdale Boulevard near the Sierra Highway. One man involved in the argument pulled out a 9-millimeter pistol and shot three other men, said Diane Hecht of the Sheriff's Information Bureau.

Two people were in critical condition after a gang-related shooting at a party Friday night in East Los Angeles that left 11 wounded, authorities said Saturday. The victims, ages 15 to 24, were party guests at a house on South Humphreys Avenue. The area is home to several Latino gangs, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said. Several of the party guests are known gang members, said Deputy Benita Hinojos.